


Balancing Point

by tippitytappitysplat



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Author tried and failed to write something inspirational in the end, Ezra and Sabine show up briefly, Gen, I Tried, May the Force Be With You, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Quote: The Force works in mysterious ways, Some artistic liberty was taken regarding what happened to Lothal after it was liberated, That's Not How The Force Works, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:15:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24008707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tippitytappitysplat/pseuds/tippitytappitysplat
Summary: After the battle on Exogul, Rey made her way to Tatooine to end it where it had all started. She buried Anakin's lightsaber in the sand and forged her own. Little did she know she'd be getting a visit from a ghost directing her to another backwater planet.
Relationships: Ezra Bridger & Sabine Wren, Rey & Ahsoka Tano
Kudos: 25





	Balancing Point

There was a feeling of finality left in the Force. Not the end of everything, but a sense of ending, of peace, of leaving the past behind to rightfully fade. 

Ben Solo had died, taking the last of the Skywalker bloodline with him. Rey had taken on the burden of the Skywalker name, setting out to accomplish what those before her had achieved, if only for a short while. 

It all ended where it had started; a planet with two suns and three moons filled with endless deserts. 

For now, Rey was alone. There were no other force-sensitives that were trained in either the way of the Jedi or the Sith. No one left to influence the values of the galaxy. Maybe balance had finally been achieved for the first time in centuries. 

_“Bring back the balance, Rey, as I did.”_

_“Let it guide you...As it guided us.”_

_“These are your final steps, Rey. Rise, and take them.”_

With all the strength of all the Jedi behind her, Rey finally put an end to Palpatine’s reign. Balance was once again achieved, but it didn’t come without a cost. 

How many had died in the Clone Wars? How many more had died in the fight against Palpatine’s Empire? And yet again, how many brave souls were lost to the First Order? 

It seemed that every single time a force-user managed to bring about peace, it didn’t last for long. But they all failed for a simple reason; they shaped the galaxy to resemble the morals of either Ashla or Bogan. 

Anakin and Luke found peace in their deaths, but they weren’t able to bring it to the real world. 

The Sith could not rule through power and fear, and the Jedi could not rule with indifference and ignorance. The middle road was untraveled. The few that had walked it were lost to history. It was a path that Rey had to take alone, or so she thought. 

“Rey.” 

Rey, taking up residence in a small inn on Tatooine, whirled around with her staff in hand. 

“Who’s there?” She demanded, “Show yourself.” 

_“You can hear me, but you cannot see me.”_

“Spare me your riddles and speak plainly! Who are you?” 

Out of the corner of her eye Rey glimpsed a flicker of blue. She turned in that direction, swinging her staff and nearly reaching for her lightsaber. 

_“Lothal..”_

Deciding this must be a weird Force thing, which she was correct in assuming, Rey reached out her senses to the apparition in the corner. She refused to let her guard down, knowing this could be a remnant of Palpatine still trying to gain power. 

“Who are you?” It was less of a question and more of a demand. 

_“Go...to...Lothal...temple.”_

“Lothal?” Rey tried to connect with the spirit, but there was nothing after those words were spoken. Were they really spoken out loud? Or did they appear in her head magically? Rey had no idea, the whole Force thing was still relatively new to her. 

Wary, and more than confused, Rey left a message for Finn and Poe saying she was heading to Lothal, wherever that was, and that her trip would take a little longer than she originally thought. 

In the morning she hopped in Luke’s old X-Wing and had BB-8 input coordinates to presumably Lothal. It wasn’t close, but it wasn’t too far at least. She mulled over the cryptic words and directions she had gotten from the ghost, apparition, spirit? Whatever it was. 

The voice was familiar, but she couldn’t figure out where she had heard it before. None of it made sense, this whole trip could be a trap. But at least she had left a message for her friends to find her. 

Rey let BB-8 guide the ship to an open plain quite far away from the nearest town. It may have been some time since the fall of the First Order, but on an Outer Rim planet like Lothal, it would take some time for the news to reach all the way out here. She didn’t want to run into any stormtroopers like the few she had seen on Tatooine. 

There was an old communications tower that looked like it had been abandoned for decades, and it probably had been. On a whim, Rey climbed up and entered the tower. It wasn’t as barren as she had expected; it looked lived in. There were several helmets scattered around and they appeared like they had been well-cared for. 

“Who the hell are you?” A voice called. 

Surprised, Rey jumped and reached for her weapon before realizing there was a blaster ready to fire should she move. Dismayed at her own unpreparedness, Rey raised her hands up reaching for the Force to act as her guide in this situation. 

A figure came out of the darkness, brown eyes focused on their target, hard and unrelenting. 

“I’m...Rey.” 

“Rey who?” 

“Rey Skywalker.” 

The figure let out a strangled laugh, and-oh they were female judging by the pitch, although they could be using a voice modifier. 

“Nice try, the Skywalker line died with Luke Skywalker, and last I checked he didn’t have any children.” 

“Relax, Sabine. She isn’t here to hurt us.” A new voice called. 

“Sabine” ever so slowly lowered her blaster, though she kept her eyes on Rey and had her weapon ready to fire at a moment’s notice. 

Similarly, Rey was on guard and prepared to use the Force to push them both off the tower if necessary. A pair of electric blue eyes met hers. 

“You’re not really a Skywalker, are you? You’re taking on that name and the burden it carries for those who passed on and could not.” 

Rey stuttered. How could this man read her so well? 

“And you’re also not here for us. You’re looking for something.” 

“If you don’t mind me asking, who are you and how do you know that?” Rey questioned. Maybe she wasn’t in a position to be asking questions, but she was fairly certain she could defend herself if things came to a head. 

“The name’s Ezra Bridger. A long time ago I called myself a Jedi, now I only call myself a Force-user. And even then I don’t use it much.” 

“Ezra!” Sabine hissed. 

“What? She isn’t here to hurt us!” 

“That doesn’t give you an excuse to go and spill your entire life story!” 

“But I didn’t spill my entire life story!” 

“Excuse me?” Rey interrupted, not wanting to be caught in this twisted version of a lovers’ spat, “Is there a temple around here?” 

Ezra picked up a helmet and ran his fingers across the visor, “Depends on what kind of temple you’re looking for. I think someone set up some sort of church in town if that’s what you’re after.” 

“No! I mean- a Force temple. Like one that used to belong to the Jedi and the Sith.” 

Ezra and Sabine glanced at each other, an obvious sign they knew something that Rey didn’t. 

Carefully, Ezra spoke, “There used to be one on Lothal, but the Empire destroyed it.” 

“So then this trip was pointless.” Rey murmured. “I should’ve known better than to trust a random voice from nowhere.” 

But she wasn’t as quiet as she thought she was. 

“A voice?” Ezra scrambled to place the helmet back on the shelf in his shock. He took a good look at her with new eyes. 

“Kriff- Force, you’re that Rey. Poodoo I was supposed to- uh. Welcome to Lothal!” 

Rey raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. 

Ezra scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “Yeah I deserve that. But I wasn’t lying when I said the Empire destroyed the temple that was once here. All that’s left are rocks and more rocks. And some paintings.” 

Rey pressed her lips together, still wary of a trick. “Can you take me to the ruins? I think there’s something I need to see there.” 

Ezra waved his hand vaguely, “Yeah, yeah I can do that. Except we don’t have a speeder.” 

Rey shrugged, “I can walk. Take me to the temple.” 

At this his eyes glinted, “We aren’t walking.”   
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
“When you said we weren’t walking I wasn’t expecting to ride on a wolf of all things.” Rey grumbled as Ezra sent the wolf off to Force knows where. 

“Well Sabine and I kinda committed ourselves to isolation, so the most we have is an old commlink with Hera and Jacen along with the basic necessities.” 

“Hera? General Syndulla? One of the most dedicated pilots of the Rebellion? Poe told me about her.” 

“Yep that’s her.” 

“If you were in contact with her why didn’t you come to the battle at Exogul?” 

“Did you miss the whole ‘isolation’ thing? We don’t have a ship or even a speeder. Hera would have had to come all the way here to help us get a ship, then escort us to Exogul. And neither Sabine or I are good pilots.” 

They went quiet for a bit, until Ezra stopped in front of what seemed to be a mere pile of boulders. 

“Well. Here we are. The Lothal Temple, now hop in there and get your crystal that you need so bad. It’s all the way in the deep pits of the temple.” Ezra droned. 

Rey glared at him. He reminded her of what Master Luke said Yoda was like. Nonchalant and unassuming at first, but obviously he knew something that he wasn’t telling her. 

“You aren’t coming with me?” 

The wayward Force user shrugged, “There isn’t a temple to enter anymore. No more of that ‘master and apprentice’ thing is required to enter. I’m not exactly a master and you aren’t a padawan either.” 

Rey glared at him before turning her back and trudging over the pile of rocks. This could all be a farce, there was nothing here on this backwater planet. The only significant finding was the kooky almost-Jedi in the communications tower and his companion. 

Using her staff to help her over the terrain, Rey subconsciously reached out with the Force to see if she was missing anything the regular eye couldn’t see. Tripping on a loose rock, she managed to catch herself with her staff and a hand on the closest flat surface of rock. 

Confused, Rey felt along the surface, noticing the texture was ever so slightly different. She turned to her right and gazed upon an old drawing of a glowing woman, a man with red eyes, and an elder between them. 

_“They are the father, son and daughter.”_

For what seemed like the hundredth time in two days, Rey turned around with her staff ready to destroy whoever she deemed a threat. There was nothing there until she focused on a specific spot. Then she saw it, or rather her. 

“Are you the one who led me here?” Rey demanded, “Who are you?” 

An old Torgruta female stared down at her from her perch on the rock. _“My name is Ahsoka Tano. I was once a Jedi, then I wasn’t, but I always walked the path of the light.”_

“That doesn’t tell me what you’re doing here.” 

Ahsoka gave a visible sigh, _“I’m not strong enough to manifest somewhere that isn’t already strong in the Force. And unlike Obi-Wan, I never practiced how to become a Force ghost before my death. I don’t know why you’re so surprised, you saw Luke and Leia on Tatooine.”_

Rey slung her staff onto her back, “I knew them in life. I have no idea who you are.” 

_“I was the Rebellion’s first Fulcrum agent back during the era of the Empire. If you ask one of the older members they might remember me. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if my name has disappeared from records.”_ The apparition paused briefly, considering something. _“Anakin and Luke should’ve been here instead of me, but they’re scared to show up and interfere.”_ She muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘cowards’. 

_“You’re already aware of this I’m sure, but you know you have to keep the balance. If the Force tips too far to one side, it will do it’s best to right it again. And that always leads to war and death. No matter how many years it will take, it will right itself again, but at a cost._

_“Death is a natural part of life, but lives don’t have to be ended for the sake of the Jedi and the Sith.”_

“I can hardly call myself a Jedi, and even if I were, all the old texts are lost or destroyed. Master Luke said the Jedi needed to die.” Rey recited. 

_“Luke wasn’t wrong, but there was a better way he could have phrased it. The path you walk now is narrow and uncertain. Don’t fall to the Jedi’s ignorance and don’t fall to the Sith’s greed.”_

“That’s easier said than done. You said it yourself, the path I’m taking is unprecedented, there’s no one to tell me what I’m doing wrong or what I’m doing right.” Rey protested. 

_“Maybe so. But you have your friends and a strong moral compass on your side. Follow your gut and trust in others. Don’t isolate yourself and carry the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders alone. And…”_

_“We stand with you, Rey.”_

“Master Luke?!” 

_“You will make mistakes, that is natural. Learn from them, and use them to make yourself grow.”_

“But what if my mistakes affect others?” 

_“Then fix it and do better next time. It’s what the leaders of the galaxy have been doing for centuries. Mistakes can lead to disaster, but if you recover from them right, then you won’t run into any issues.”_

_“Rise, Rey.”_

_“Take your final steps…”_

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it to the end, good job! Ngl, I started this, lost interest, then came back because I really wanted to write something for May 4th. May the Force (Fourth) be with us all! Stay safe and healthy, everyone!   
> I was trying my best to pace it, so much so that I wrote another version that was way too slow and would've taken me another week to finish.   
> I wasn't going to bring Ezra and Sabine, but I figured if I was making Rey go to Lothal I might as well chuck them in.   
> Thanks for reading! If I catch any mistakes (or you do) I'll do my best to correct them as soon as possible!   
> Happy Star Wars Day!


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